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Welch BM, Keil AP, Buckley JP, Engel SM, James-Todd T, Zota AR, Alshawabkeh AN, Barrett ES, Bloom MS, Bush NR, Cordero JF, Dabelea D, Eskenazi B, Lanphear BP, Padmanabhan V, Sathyanarayana S, Swan SH, Aalborg J, Baird DD, Binder AM, Bradman A, Braun JM, Calafat AM, Cantonwine DE, Christenbury KE, Factor-Litvak P, Harley KG, Hauser R, Herbstman JB, Hertz-Picciotto I, Holland N, Jukic AMZ, McElrath TF, Meeker JD, Messerlian C, Michels KB, Newman RB, Nguyen RH, O’Brien KM, Rauh VA, Redmon B, Rich DQ, Rosen EM, Schmidt RJ, Sparks AE, Starling AP, Wang C, Watkins DJ, Weinberg CR, Weinberger B, Wenzel AG, Wilcox AJ, Yolton K, Zhang Y, Ferguson KK. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Phthalate Exposure and Preterm Birth: A Pooled Study of Sixteen U.S. Cohorts. Environ Health Perspect 2023; 131:127015. [PMID: 38117586 PMCID: PMC10732302 DOI: 10.1289/ehp12831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Phthalate exposures are ubiquitous during pregnancy and may contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in preterm birth. OBJECTIVES We investigated race and ethnicity in the relationship between biomarkers of phthalate exposure and preterm birth by examining: a) how hypothetical reductions in racial and ethnic disparities in phthalate metabolites might reduce the probability of preterm birth; and b) exposure-response models stratified by race and ethnicity. METHODS We pooled individual-level data on 6,045 pregnancies from 16 U.S. cohorts. We investigated covariate-adjusted differences in nine urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations by race and ethnicity [non-Hispanic White (White, 43%), non-Hispanic Black (Black, 13%), Hispanic/Latina (38%), and Asian/Pacific Islander (3%)]. Using g-computation, we estimated changes in the probability of preterm birth under hypothetical interventions to eliminate disparities in levels of urinary phthalate metabolites by proportionally lowering average concentrations in Black and Hispanic/Latina participants to be approximately equal to the averages in White participants. We also used race and ethnicity-stratified logistic regression to characterize associations between phthalate metabolites and preterm birth. RESULTS In comparison with concentrations among White participants, adjusted mean phthalate metabolite concentrations were consistently higher among Black and Hispanic/Latina participants by 23%-148% and 4%-94%, respectively. Asian/Pacific Islander participants had metabolite levels that were similar to those of White participants. Hypothetical interventions to reduce disparities in metabolite mixtures were associated with lower probabilities of preterm birth for Black [13% relative reduction; 95% confidence interval (CI): - 34 % , 8.6%] and Hispanic/Latina (9% relative reduction; 95% CI: - 19 % , 0.8%) participants. Odds ratios for preterm birth in association with phthalate metabolites demonstrated heterogeneity by race and ethnicity for two individual metabolites (mono-n-butyl and monoisobutyl phthalate), with positive associations that were larger in magnitude observed among Black or Hispanic/Latina participants. CONCLUSIONS Phthalate metabolite concentrations differed substantially by race and ethnicity. Our results show hypothetical interventions to reduce population-level racial and ethnic disparities in biomarkers of phthalate exposure could potentially reduce the probability of preterm birth. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12831.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barrett M. Welch
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
- University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | | | - Jessie P. Buckley
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Stephanie M. Engel
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Tamarra James-Todd
- Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ami R. Zota
- Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | | | - Emily S. Barrett
- Rutgers School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | | | - Nicole R. Bush
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | | | - Dana Dabelea
- University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Brenda Eskenazi
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | | | | | - Sheela Sathyanarayana
- Seattle Children’s Research Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Shanna H. Swan
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Jenny Aalborg
- University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Donna D. Baird
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Asa Bradman
- University of California, Merced, Merced, California, USA
| | | | - Antonia M. Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Kate E. Christenbury
- Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., a DLH Holdings Company, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Pam Factor-Litvak
- Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Kim G. Harley
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Julie B. Herbstman
- Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | | | - Nina Holland
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Anne Marie Z. Jukic
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - John D. Meeker
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Carmen Messerlian
- Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Karin B. Michels
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Institute for Prevention and Cancer Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Roger B. Newman
- Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Ruby H.N. Nguyen
- University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Katie M. O’Brien
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Virginia A. Rauh
- Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Bruce Redmon
- University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - David Q. Rich
- University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - Emma M. Rosen
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | | | | | - Anne P. Starling
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Christina Wang
- The Lundquist Institute at Harbor, UCLA Medical Center, West Carson, California, USA
| | - Deborah J. Watkins
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Clarice R. Weinberg
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Barry Weinberger
- Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, Northwell Health, Queens, New York, USA
| | - Abby G. Wenzel
- Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Allen J. Wilcox
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kimberly Yolton
- Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Yu Zhang
- Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Kelly K. Ferguson
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
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